Can't be much easier....
Dredge 1 1/4 pounds of cubed beef in seasoned flour.. heat2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a dutch oven and brown the meat, being careful not to add too much at a time, so it browns and doesn'ts team.
When the meat is browned add a big ( think it's 22 oz) canned Italian plum tomates...not packed in puree....break up the tomatoes with your hands....and add them juice and all to the pan, turn the fire way down....and add a small chopped onion, one rib of celery cut into 1 inch pieces and a finely minced clove of garlic and a 1/4 oz can of beef broth,2 bay leaves and a wine glass full of ( 1/2 cup) dry red wine....cover and simmer an hour...remove the lid and add 4 or 5 carrots peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks, cover and cook 1/2 hour, add 3 big russet potatoes chunked and simmer until the potatoes are done.
Linda C
Add 4 to 5 peeled carrots

Mines even easier than LindaC's.... make you fav beef stew recipe and use V8 for part (or all) of the liquid.

Alexa

...but if you don't have a beef stew recipe, then LindaC's will get you where you're going and I'd sure like to be going to her place for dinner lol!

seagrass

LindaC knows that I like directions :) BTW Alexa - thanks for the V8 tip - I bought some ages ago for another recipe and have been trying to figure out what to do with the rest!

seagrass - you and me both!

Sue

This is very good and easy too! It could be made in a heavy pot on top of the stove or baked long and slow in the oven.

Spicy Beef Stew  Crock pot

1 ½ to 2 lbs. stew beef, cut in 1-inch cubes
4 med. potatoes, cubed
4 med. carrots, sliced
1 med. onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans tomato soup
2 soup cans water
1 c. red wine or beef broth if you prefer not to cook with wine
2 TB flour
1 t. salt
1 t. paprika
1/4t. pepper
1/2t. each oregano, basil, thyme, sage, marjoram
1 TB Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves

Coat beef cubes with flour, s&p, paprika. Put vegetables in crock pot, top with the beef cubes. Mix all the rest but the bay leaves, pour over meat and veg in pot. Stir in bay leaves. Cook 8-10 hours until all is tender.

When I read "tomato-based stew," I immediately thought of the oven baked stew I used to make. There are many versions out there (with names like Easy Oven Stew), but they all have some form of tomato and TAPIOCA for some reason. Sorry, I couldn't find my old recipe. This one is similar, but I think I used tomato sauce instead of the soup, and maybe added green beans.

No Peek Beef Stew
4 lbs stew meat
8 carrots
8 potatoes
2 cups chopped celery
2 cups chopped onions
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp sugar
4 tbsp tapioca
2 cans tomato soup
2 cups water
Layer all ingredients, starting with stew meat. Sprinkle tapioca, pepper, and sugar over ingredients. Mix soup & water -- pour over ingredients. DO NOT STIR!
Bake in covered roaster at 250 degrees for 5 hrs.
May add other veggies to your taste.

You might also like Swiss steak recipes. I prefer that over beef stew anyday.

My Mom often asks me to make the V8 stew, it is her favorite.

Beef stew with V8
From Better homes and gardens new cook book

2 TBL all purpose flour
1 pound beef or pork stew meat
2 TBL cooking oil
3 ½ cups vegetable juice cocktail
½ cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons instant beef bouillon granules
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp dried basil, crushed
½ tsp dried thyme, crushed
2 ¼ cups cubed, peeled potatoes
2 cups sliced carrots
1 cup sliced celery

Place flour in a plastic bag. Add meat cubes, a few at a time, shaking to coat. In a large saucepan or dutch oven brown meat, half at a time, in hot oil. Return meat to saucepan. Add juice cocktail, onion, bouillon granules, garlic, basil, and thyme. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover, simmer 1  1 ¼ hours for beef (30 minutes for pork) or till meat is nearly tender. Add potatoes, carrots, and celery. Cover; simmer 30 minutes more. Skim fat. Makes 4 main dish servings.

My notes say use 1 ½ lbs beef, 1 ¼ cups potatoes, 1 cup carrots. We prefer more meat and less veggies at our house.

Thanks everyone for the recipes. I'm going to try them all :)

I make mine in the pressure cooker. I believe the secret to really good beef stew is the initial dredging & browning of the meat before the addition of any of the other ingredients. And I also use V-8 in mine.

PRESSURE COOKER BEEF STEW

1 lb. beef stew meat
1/4 cup all-purpose Flour
1 onion, chopped
3 Tblsp. Oil
1 tsp. Salt
1 cup Tomato juice or V-8 juice
1/2 tsp. Garlic powder
1/2 tsp. Pepper
1 cup Carrots, sliced
2 cups Potatoes, quartered
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 cup Celery, sliced
1 cup Water
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Dredge cut meat in flour and brown in oil. Add onion, tomato juice, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Stir and pressure cook for 15 minutes. Add potatoes, carrots, celery, 1/2 tsp. salt, Worcestershire sauce and water. Pressure cook 15 minutes. Thicken sauce and serve. Makes 4 servings.

beef stew is just too lean for me
i use a chuck roast
i season and brown it
put it in the pan
add 1 can of v-8
i pkg of lipton onion soup mix
1 can of cream of mushroom soup ( i know Linda C just shuddered)
about an hour or so into cooking, i add a few potatoes cubed. you can also use veggies, i just don't care for them. but i will add mini carrots for the hubby.
an let it slowly simmer for a few hours or so.
it will be very tender, and then i just kind of shred it or pull it apart for pieces of meat.